Christophe Martichon (; born 16 October 1975), better known by his stage name Christophe Maé (), is a French pop singer.
Career Maé learned to play the violin at age five, and later began playing the guitar and harmonica at age 16 after he was immobilised from chronic polyarthritis. He has stated that this was the time when he discovered Stevie Wonder's music which inspired him to take up playing the harmonica. He also discovered Bob Marley's music to whom, years later, he dedicates a song: "Mon père spirituel". It is at the same period that he started playing the guitar.Christophe Mae He started his career as a baker in his parents' bakery in Carpentras before leaving to start performing in resorts' bars until the age of 30 and participated in galas, in reggae, soul and blues styles. At 22, he took part in the French tv program "Graines de star" interpreting the Jamiroquai's song Virtual Insanity. Maé opened for Seal at the Grand Rex in Paris and for Cher at the Zénith de Paris, both in 2004. In 2003, he sang the song "Back to Bornsville" in the movie Mais qui a tué Pamela Rose? of Kad et Olivier. In 2005 he rose to fame by playing the role of Monsieur, brother of King Louis XIV in the musical "Le Roi Soleil", for which he won the NRJ Music Award for revelation of the year 2006.
Releases Maé's first album was entitled Sa Danse Donne, and released in 2002–2003. This album is not considered his first studio album. He released his first studio album, Mon paradis (My Paradise) on 19 March 2007, with the singles "On s'attache", "Parce qu'on sait jamais" and "Ça fait mal". His fourth single is "Belle Demoiselle". Mon Paradis was France's second best-selling album of 2007 after Life in Cartoon Motion by Mika, selling more than 1 600 000 albums to date.
In 2010, Maé's second studio album, On trace la route, was released. It has sold more than 600,000 units to date.
In 2013, Maé's third studio album "Je veux du bonheur ", was released. It ranked number one of the top French album during its first week of release with 103,680 copies to date. The album was sold more than 500,000 units to date in July 2014.
In 2016, Maé's fourth studio album "L'attrape-rêves ", was released. It ranked number one of the top French album for 5 weeks. Until the end of 2016, it has sold 300,000 units to date.
Musical style Maé's music is largely acoustic. He has cited Bob Marley, Ben Harper, Tracy Chapman, and Jack Johnson as well as French singer-songwriters Francis Cabrel and Gérald De Palmas as musical influences. As a counter-tenor his voice has a range from A2 to F6. He allegedly began to learn harmonica as a tribute to Stevie Wonder, who is commonly cited as his biggest influence musically.
Personal life Christophe Maé has two sons, Jules (born March 2008) and Marcel (born August 2013), with his then-longtime girlfriend Nadège Sarron. Sarron operates a dance school which she founded in Aix-en-Provence, where she lives with her sons. Maé works half the week in Paris, and reunited with his family the rest of the time in the South. He finally proposed to Nadège in 2016 through his song "Ballerine", and the couple married in Porto-Vecchio on 29 June 2017.
Philanthropy Maé has been a member of the Les Enfoirés charity ensemble since 2008."Christophe Maé" (in French). Enfoires.com. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
Discography
Studio albums YearInformationChartsCertificationFRFR(DL)BEL(Fl)BEL(Wa)CANSWI2008Mon paradisFrance: Diamond2008Comme à la maison (Acoustic album)France: 2× Platinum2010On trace la routeFrance: Diamond2013Je veux du bonheur2016L'attrape-rêvesFrance: 2× Platinum2019La vie d'artiste2023C'est drôle la vie2026Fete Foraine
Live album
YearInformationChartsFRFR (DL)BEL (Fl)BEL (Wa)2009Comme à la maison (Live) (2-CD set with Mon paradis)2011On trace la route – Le live
Singles Year TitleChart positions Album FR FR (DL) SWI BEL(Fl) BEL(Wa)2007"On s'attache"1227-4Mon paradis"Parce qu'on ne sait jamais"61252-10"Ça fait mal"138385-162008"Belle Demoiselle"131374-10"C'est ma terre"-1191-18Comme à la maison"Mon p'tit gars"218--332009"Je n'attendais que vous" (Maé, Lara, Maurane, Bruel, La Chorale des Voisins du Dessus)----38"Dingue, dingue, dingue"1330-4On trace la route2010"J'ai laissé"-2--16"Je me lâche"-1647-12"Pourquoi c'est beau"-33---2011"La rumeur"53---4(Ultratip)"Un peu de blues"29---242013"Tombé sous le charme"11-3882 (Ultratip)7Je veux du bonheur"Je veux du bonheur"90---4(Ultratip)"La poupée"40---2(Ultratip)"Ne t'en fais pas"200----2014"Ma douleur, ma peine"144--- -2016"Il est oú le bonheur"4-70-14L'attrape-rêves"La vallée des larmes"199----"La Parisienne"111---302017"Marcel"95----2019"Les gens"160---11 La vie d'artiste2021"Y'a du soleil"----232022"Pays des merveilles"----202026"La lune"----16
Awards NRJ Music Award 2007: French revelation of the year 2008: French male artist of the year 2008: French song of the year for "On s'attache" 2009: French male artist of the year 2009: French song of the year for "Belle demoiselle" 2013: NRJ Award of Honor 2016: Video of the year for "Il est où le bonheur" Victoires de la musique 2008: Public revelation of the year World Music Awards 2008: French artist of the year Others 2008: Winner of song of the year on TF1 2014: Winner of song of the year on TF1
References
External links Official Website Official Myspace